HAMILTON-WENTWORTH CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
Bishop Ryan Celtics Head to OFSAA

Special-teams play continues to be a Bishop Ryan Celtics' specialty.

Champions of Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic senior high school football in 2025, BR earned an OFSAA Bowl Series berth with a convincing 31-7 victory over Burlington's Assumption Crusaders on Tuesday afternoon.

That contest, held at BR, decided the Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference title.

A key play in the GHAC final was Ben Kingston's 120-yard second-quarter touchdown run while returning a wide Assumption field-goal attempt. In addition, Luca Horvat of Bishop Ryan booted a pair of field goals -- from 39 and 27 yards -- and the Celtics punt coverage unit picked up six points when it recovered a fumble in the end zone.

"Special teams are important," said Celtics defensive back and punter Adriano Infurnari. "It wins us games."

Celtic coach Jim Davies agrees: "We emphasize special teams," Davies said. "We spend a lot of time on it.

"When Ben made that return run, it really got the momentum going for us."

The Celtics led 3-0 at the end of the first quarter. After a conceded safety touch increased the margin, the Celtics made it 12-0 on a one-yard quarterback keeper by Jack Redmond.

Assumption's lone touchdown came on a perfectly-thrown 40-yard toss from quarterback Tiago Sousa-Dias to Josh George.

But Kingston's winding return restored the Celtics 12-point cushion heading into the half.

The Halton champions conceded another safety touch in the third quarter before Jacob Grajales recovered the end-zone fumble for BR. Horvat's second three-pointer then rounded out the scoring in the fourth.

Defensively, Infurnari, Horvat and Lucas Underhill each intercepted a pass.

"We have the best defensive coach (Rob Underhill) in the league," Infurnari said. "We've been with him for about four years now. Rob can help, but it comes down to players making plays.

"We've got a stud kicker in Luca Horvat, as well."

Davies said the offensive line pass-protected well and paved the way for an effective BR ground game.

Several players returned from injury after missing a handful of games, including workhorse running back Jesse Vaccarella.

"That sure did help," Davies said. "Jesse is a special player. He's tough as nails. There was nothing we could do to keep him off the field today."

In 17 carries Vaccarella gained 108 yards.

"It wasn't our day," said Assumption coach Ivan Yurgan, whose team came in undefeated, including a last-play GHAC semifinal upset of the Nelson Lords.

Yurgan is in his second year of retirement after a three-decade career of teaching and coaching at Assumption. Originally, however, he attended Bishop Ryan and was a member of the Celtics championship football team of 1981.

It took BR the next 44 years to accomplish the feat again.

"I was very happy for these guys (Celtics) when they won," Yurgan said of their recent Hamilton-Wentworth crown. "I'm glad we relinquished that honour."

Up next for BR is the Western Bowl on Nov. 26 against Catholic Central of London. It's a 2 p.m. start at University of Guelph.

See photos on HWCDSB Athletics Facebook page.